Feb 21, 2010

The Diary of an Obsessed Muppet Fan - The Muppet Show Season 2

The Diary of an Obsessed Muppet Fan - Entry 2, February 21, 2010

Dear Diary,It's me, Ryan. Did you miss me? I'm not going to lie, I didn't miss you. Don't give me that look! Maybe if you lost a couple of pages and actually tried with your appearance I wouldn't be so bored with this relationship! Oh, sure, blame me.

Thank goodness I have The Muppet Show Season 2 DVDs to distract me this week. As all Muppet fans know, this set was a vast improvement over the Season 1 set thanks to it being entirely uncut. Between these four DVDs there is just so much goodness oozing out that I'm surprised the set didn't come with a sponge shaped like Zoot's head! (How cool would that be?)

In Season 2, we see the Muppets evolve more and more into the Muppets we know today. Fozzie's design has been significantly improved, as have Gonzo and Miss Piggy's. In Season 2 we also get to meet Beaker, the Pigs in Space crew, and more fun characters like Robin the Frog and Scooter's uncle J.P. Grosse. Season 2 is really where The Muppet Show settled into itself and became the entertainment juggernaut we now know it as.

I love Season 2 for many reasons, but mostly because of Frank Oz. This is the season that Frank becomes a force of nature with the characters. Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Sam Eagle, and even Animal all just completely steal the show whenever they have screen time. I especially loved Sam throughout Season 2 as he attempted to push decency on Kermit and always ended up the butt of his own lack-of-a-joke. I think the best Sam moment in Season 2 has to be in the Rudolf Nureyev episode. At one point he picks up Kermit to talk to him. It's hysterical.

The guest stars in Season 2 are also considerably more popular and well-known now that The Muppet Show has become a success. Elton John, John Cleese, Steve Martin, and Julie Andrews are still big names in the entertainment industry today. With the guest stars being more famous, the Muppets had to try harder to out-do them. I think this is a big reason why the shows kept getting better. They had to in order to keep up with these great performers.

As for my favorite episodes from this season... well, I really did love them all but I'll try to pick them out. The Don Knotts episode had a fantastic backstage story with Fozzie and Floyd, Milton Berle was great, as were Steve Martin, Julie Andrews, and George Burns. You can't beat Madeline Kahn's sexiness in her episode, and Jaye P. Morgan's anti-cute stance. But for the best episode of the season I really think you have to look to John Cleese. Hilarity at every turn.

Of course there were also those guest stars that just didn't work. Such as Rich Little (my mute uncle could do a better Kermit impression!), Teresa Brewer (I wish I had a brew to distract me from her awkwardness), and Judy Collins (Send in the clowns? Sends me to sleep!)

This set actually had some fun bonus features. The Muppets Valentine Special isn't terrible but the kinks are still glaringly obvious. I love The Muppets On The Muppets and could just watch hours of off-the-cuff Muppet interviews any time. And the Weezer music video may be out of place but it's still somewhat entertaining (if only for flipping penguins).

But what is the defining moment of this season, you ask? ...Good question. Part of me wants to say John Cleese's closing number, but another part wants to say Dom DeLuise singing "We Got Us." However, I think the real defining moment comes with Bernadette Peters as she sings "Just One Person" to Robin with the help of the rest of the Muppets. It's a wonderfully sweet moment that never gets to saccharine thanks to Robin's quips about his size and not being noticed.

This brings us to the end of another one, folks. How about one more big hand for our very special guest star: My pen! YAAAAAY! We'll see you all next time on The Muppet Mindset!

Sincerely and insanely yours,
Ryan Dosier, Obsessed Muppet Fan
President & CEO of Nothing at All Industries
A Division of Completely Pointless, Inc.